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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Friday, May 11, 2012

11 May - My Feedly

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 02: A demonstrator from Code Pink for Peace hold up a sign during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee about the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on Capitol Hill December 2, 2010 in Washington, DC. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced earlier this week that a comprehensive study found that allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the United States armed forces presents a low risk to the military's effectiveness, even at a time of war, and that 70 percent of service members believe that the impact of repealing the law would be either positive, mixed or of no consequence at all. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

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Welcome to http://NewWorldNextWeek.com — the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news. This week: Story #1: France, Germany on Collision Course Over Austerity Treaty http://ur1.ca/97ke5 Meanwhile, Greek Left Leader Renounces Bailout Deal http://ur1.ca/97ke9 Related: Goldman Secret Greece Loan Shows Two

Welcome to http://NewWorldNextWeek.com — the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news. This week: Story #1: France, Germany on Collision Course Over Austerity Treaty http://ur1.ca/97ke5 Meanwhile, Greek Left Leader Renounces Bailout Deal http://ur1.ca/97ke9 Related: Goldman Secret Greece Loan Shows Two

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I first met Kevin Fenton in 1977, late August maybe, beginning of September. We were both freshman at Beloit College. I don’t remember the exact circumstances. We lived on the same floor of the same dorm, so I guess I probably ran into him early on. He was visually memorable. Largish fellow; my height or so; broad shoulders; carrying a bit of weight; round, lumpy Irish head. His walked in a bear-

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Globalization Studies graduate student and independent journalist Joshua Blakeney joins us to discuss the events unfolding across the Middle East and around the world. We discuss the influence of the Israeli lobby in the US, the aggression against Syria, the role of academia in propping up the war on terror narrative and much more.

Julio Rausseo of jnreports.wordpress.com joins us to discuss the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago and the preparations that are taking place in the windy city as Chicagoans brace for the meeting. From snipers to black helicopters, shoot down zones to evacuation preparations, we go over all of the police state ramp up taking place ahead of next week’s conclave. Follow Julio on YouTube and Twitter fo

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Huff Post Sam Stein Posted: 05/09/2012 2:55 pm Updated: 05/09/2012 7:34 pm WASHINGTON — In a nod to a dramatic shift in public opinion, Barack Obama on Wednesday became the first sitting president to announce his support for same-sex marriage. In a sit-down interview with ABC’s Robin Roberts, Obama completed what has been a markedly long and oft-mocked evolution on the matter. “I’ve always been a

Politicususa By: Sarah Jones May 9, 2012 It turns out that Joel Arends, the Chairman of Swiftboating 2012 style’s “Veterans for a Strong America” and creator of the viral “Obama spiked the bin Laden football” video, is exactly what he accuses the President of being. He has politicized the Navy SEALS and exploited those who actually were on the bin Laden mission, even though not one of them from t

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A recent preliminary assessment of 63 legally protected areas in seven tiger range countries shows that only 22, or 35%, maintain WWF’s minimum standards of protection. This indicates that the areas set up to protect tigers and other threatened species are not necessarily the refuge they are designed to be, says WWF. “Poaching is the most immediate threat to tigers and protected areas are the fi

May 11, 2012 – A ranger and two Congolese soldiers protecting evacuating civilians in Virunga National Park have been gunned down in an ambush, park officials say. The men came under machine gun fire by a group of 100 unidentified militia members while attempting to secure an important transit route. “We are deeply saddened by the deaths of these men who have served their community so honourably,

Brasilia, Brazil: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has until May 25 to decide whether to veto a draft rewrite of Brazil’s Forest Code that will wind back protections against deforestation in the Amazon and other areas and offer wide ranging amnesties for illegal deforestation. The 15 working day period for a complete or partial veto on the Forest Code submitted by the Brazilian Congress commenc

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Here is the latest newsletter of Occupy Wall Street: Houston. OWSH is an ongoing effort to revitalize the Occupy Wall Street effort in Houston. Please read the newsletter and consider getting involved. Contact information is on the newsletter. It is up to each of us to do the work of freedom. News from the 5/6/12 GA Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.

In the primary race for the Democratic nomination to serve in the United States Senate, I support Sean Hubbard. (Above is Mr. Hubbard with a group of people who just realized that somebody is pointing a camera at them.) Mr. Hubbard is running for the seat left open by the retirement of Republican Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Mr. Hubbard has consistently taken progressive stands in his campaign for th

In the upcoming Texas Democratic primary, I’m voting for Lissa Squiers in the 7th Congressional district. (Above is a photo of Ms. Squiers noting something that I’m certain was important.) The incumbent in this race is Republican right-wing extremist John Culberson. Ms. Squiers is an energetic and progressive local Democratic leader who will work hard to win a Republican-leaning district. When no

Houston Mayor Annise Parker has rightly spoken out in favor of President Obama stating that he support the right of gay folks to get married. My assumption is that Mayor Parker favors this policy not because she is a lesbian, but because it is the right course for the freedom of all people. What is less clear to me is how Mayor Parker can favor compassion for all in the sense of gay folks being ab

With U.S. federal funding sources for renewable energy sources already drying up, coupled with a newfound antipathy towards "green" issues issue here in Washington, some are suggesting that China could offer an important opportunity for the future of renewables in the United States and around the world.

For centuries, indigenous peoples and their rights, resources and lands have been exploited. Yet long overdue acknowledgment of past exploitation and dedicated efforts by indigenous peoples have done little to end or prevent violations of the present, stated indigenous leaders in the Manaus Declaration of 2011.

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The controversial pesticide atrazine, found in U.S. drinking water and linked to cancers, birth defects and low fertility, is on the big screen this weekend. And Syngenta, largest pesticide corporation in the world and maker of atrazine, is fighting with fire. The chemical giant's PR machine is in high gear, downplaying the risks of atrazine exposure and even claiming that its gender-be

This week PAN released Honey bees and Pesticides: State of the Science, a 22-page report on the factors behind colony collapse disorder (CCD) with a sustained focus on the particular role of pesticides. read more

I’ve been hearing through the grapevine that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was startled by the public uproar over Dow AgroScience’s application for approval of its controversial new GE corn, designed to be used with the infamous and highly hazardous weedkiller, 2,4-D. By quietly opening the public comment period on December 21, 2011, the agency had apparently hoped to slide this one by wi

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The next Scottish Pirate Meetup will be next Wednesday, the 16th of May at the Regent Bar from 7pm onwards. All Pirates are welcome, as is anyone interested in the Pirate Party, or who just wants to talk with us.

Three days before an important election, the German State is censoring the Pirate Party: Reality sometimes does exceed fiction. Three days ahead of the elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s largest and most populous state, the Piratenpartei‘s website has been discovered to be censored in schools. These state-run institutions do not allow people – voters – to read what policies the challen

(spoiler alert — don’t read this if you don’t want to know what happens in Game of Thrones) I’ve just been watching Game of Thrones S02E06 (or via Pirate Party UK proxy), and I can’t help thinking that Theon Greyjoy is a tragic figure somewhat like Nick Clegg. Both of them: are weak-willed characters saw an opportunity to get power (Greyjoy by attacking Winterfell, Clegg by going in with the Tori

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by liberal japonicus I'm a bit late with this one. I work at a university that has a 'social welfare' department, which has a strong research emphasis on the problems of barrier free and this was something that a colleague mentioned to me earlier and I've only just now got around to watching it. A simple and brilliant idea. What amazing devices have caught your fancy recently?

by Doctor Science liberal japonicus got there first, but I'll just add something about what I think are the political calculations involved in Obama's "coming out" in favor of marriage equality. In particular, I suspect it's a tactic designed to appeal to a subset of big donors, especially in the financial industry. In the first place, no way were Biden's remarks a "gaffe", that was a trial ball

by liberal japonicus Well, the video is here at the Maddow blog. Some suggestions that Obama's hand was forced when Biden put made this gaffe. Some grafs CNN’s Jessica Yellin asked whether Obama was trying to “have it both ways before an election” and whether he should “stop dancing around the issue.” ABC’s Jake Tapper said that “it seems cynical to hide this prior to the election” and that “

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Yesterday we learned that Mitt Romney, in addition to being a vulture capitalist and a rank political opportunist, was also a schoolyard bully. This is my unsurprised face. John Lauber, a soft-spoken new student one year behind Romney, was perpetually teased for his nonconformity and presumed homosexuality. Now he was walking around the all-boys school with bleached-blond hair that draped over o

Like always, we gotta start with some celebrations! Princeless has been nominated for an Eisner! Mary Anne Mohanraj’s collection of SF erotica looks fantastic! Charles Saunders‘ Damballa, was just awarded Best Pulp Novel of 2011! Here’s an excerpt of a review: All of the wondrous trappings of pulp are here in this incredible work: action, adventure, evil scheming Nazis and a hero determined to foi

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Apart from the new email showing further proof of the closeness between Jeremy Hunt and Fred Michel, the most crucial piece of evidence given by Rebekah Brooks today at the Leveson inquiry was that she didn't believe her publishing of the details of sex offenders in the News of the World in the aftermath of the kidnap and murder of Sarah Payne would lead to reprisals. There are only two conclusio

If, like me, you've seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and thought that the possibility of having certain memories wiped from your brain isn't necessarily a bad thing, then it seems that at long last a treatment has been developed that can achieve exactly that. It's called the Leveson inquiry.Difficult as it is to believe, considering we've now had evidence from both James and Rupert Murd

If there's a day a year when it's possible to feel even slightly sorry for the Queen, it has to be when the state opening of parliament rolls round again. Anyone who seriously goes in for all that "oh, isn't she a wonderful, inspiring woman, served the nation her entire life" and doesn't then immediately add "and also lived a life of the utmost luxury as reward" is a fool, but the nonsense a

It wasn't meant to be this way. By this point, regardless of whether the Conservatives had won the election outright or not, the economy was meant to be growing at a sustainable level. The private sector, we were told, would step into the areas where the state was being cut back. Any lingering disquiet over the cuts was meant to have been overwhelmed by a "march of the makers", a return of that

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What would you do if you had a spacecraft pushing toward the edge of the Solar System with nothing much to do? The answer is to assign it an extended mission, as we found out with the two Voyagers and their continuing data return that is helping us understand the boundaries of the heliosphere. In the case of New Horizons, NASA’s probe to Pluto/Charon, two extended missions may be involved after Pl

It’s no surprise that the techniques we’re using to look for moons around exoplanets should start turning up new planets on their own. We’re still looking for that first exomoon, but a team of researchers working with the Hunt for Exomoons with Kepler (HEK) project has found transit variations that have revealed a second planet around a star already known to have one transiting planet. The star is

Our expectations determine so much of what we see, which is one of the great lessons of Michael Michaud’s sweeping study of our attitudes toward extraterrestrial intelligence in Contact with Alien Civilizations (Springer, 2006). But extraterrestrials aside, I’ve also been musing over how our attitudes affect our perceptions in relation to something closer to home, the human space program. Recently

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With the economy still struggling and the debates over how to fix the problem more intense than ever, one word still evokes bipartisan consensus: exports. "I want us to sell stuff," said President Obama, summing up the bipartisan sentiment. That nebulous word "stuff" is significant. It asks us to see all exports as the same and to refrain from making nuanced value judgments about what exactly we'

If you saw The Avengers last weekend, then you saw many mind-blowing special effects. Flying aircraft carriers, giant robot snakes, etc. But the film's most impressive special effect has gone largely unnoticed. It's this: The Avengers presents us with a vision of Scarlett Johansson in a skin-tight leather catsuit, and then convinces us that the most interesting thing about her is what she's think

On May Day, tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets. Invoking labor's militant past, Occupiers in many cities called it a "general strike." But few have asked why even the traditional strike has become almost an anachronism for America's labor movement. In 1974, there were 424 major work stoppages, each involving at least 1,000 workers. By 2009, only five such stoppages occurred. It's

On May Day, tens of thousands of Americans took to the streets. Invoking labor's militant past, Occupiers in many cities called it a "general strike." But few have asked why even the traditional strike has become almost an anachronism for America's labor movement. In 1974, there were 424 major work stoppages, each involving at least 1,000 workers. By 2009, only five such stoppages occurred. It's

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There is a piano now, here in the Manor. It arrived this morning. A little Baldwin spinet, birthed in the 1960s. It is a sturdy and game little being. We are learning each other. There is a great poem by Lew Welch, called “He Thanks His Woodpile.” It goes like this: The wood of the madrone burns with a flame at once lavender and mossy green, a color you sometimes see in a sari. Oak burns with a pe

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The FBI in 2010 disrupted what its agents now believe was a terrorist plot that involved killing President Obama, according to testimony and court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Spokane, Wash. The revelation came at the two-day sentencing hearing for white supremacist Wayde Lynn Kurt, the accused mastermind of an alleged plot that was [...]

A hard-hitting propaganda campaign unleashed this year by Wayne LaPierre, executive director of the National Rifle Association, may be convincing Americans that President Obama will crack down on gun ownership if he’s re-elected and becomes a lame duck. Skyrocketing sales of guns and ammunition, along with some shortages due to stockpiling, are reported by many U.S. [...]

The Justice Department has cut a deal with a former member of the Alaska Peacemaker Militia to bolster its case against the group’s leader Schaeffer Cox and two others on trial in U.S. District Court in Anchorage. Michael O. Anderson, who was arrested with Cox and co-defendants Lonnie Vernon and Coleman Barney in March 2011, will [...]

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The main pillars of the Syrian regime are collapsing one after the other. The closing of the University of Aleppo signifies the beginning of the end for public education. It will only be the first of the universities to close. Most are trying to limp to the end of the academic year, but they will probably not be able to open in the fall. Students are becoming mobilized and radicalized. The stories

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When a 19th century romantic French writer by the name of Victor Hugo said “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come” he obviously could not envision Pakistani bureaucracy. Not only can it reduce an idea to nothing more than its meager skeletal remains squirming in its own vile, it too often does. Come 2004, the IT bubble is about to burst in a military run, democratic, American influ

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16 likes A deadly lead poisoning outbreak that began two years ago in northern Nigeria continues to claim young victims even today, an aid agency official has said. Ivan Gayton of Doctors Without Borders criticised the government of oil-rich Nigeria on Thursday for not taking the threat seriously, despite 4,000 children already being sickened by the outbreak linked to gold mining. Aid group slams Nigeria for lead poisoninglike

23 likes In the second episode in a series by Paul Roy we follow a young girl as she realises her dream of a new face and a young man suffering from motor neurone disease. Indian Hospital: Episode 2like

538 likes "Without legal protection for animals across China, the scale of suffering is unimaginable. We ask the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to pass animal protection laws as soon as possible." China Needs Animal Protection Laws!like

52 likes India has a booming economy yet over 40 per cent of the country’s children are malnourished. Even the prime minister has declared the problem a "national shame". 101 East asks what India is doing to feed its millions. The Republic Of Hungerlike

6 likes "Scott Walker admitted back in January 2011 to his biggest donor, Diane Hendricks, that he wanted to “divide and conquer” organized labor in Wisconsin. She urged him to turn Wisconsin into a “right-to-work” state.... So who is she?" Who is Walker’s Sugar Mommy, Diane Hendricks?like

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I've been 'around' for a few years now, pursuing the shifting goal of a sharable home-made surfers resource site focused on ease of use and variety of mostly adult ( whoa : I didn't say prurient ) content.